Monday, March 29, 2010

After my long run failure yesterday of course I could not stop worrying about next weekend's run and the race to follow. My ankle is killing me and my right knee hurts. Of course I iced and took some IB Profin, but still hurt.

Here comes 1:30 am and the panic. I woke up and could not get back to sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about how much pain I was in during the Seattle Rock N' Roll Marathon because of my tendonitis. But it wasn't just the race I was worrying about, it was my last long run next weekend. I cannot skip it. Yes I've run an 18 miler and a 19 miler, but I just could not mentally get my head around not doing the 21 next weekend. I've already trained farther than I did last season, but I could not get that voice in my head to shut up.

I layed in bed for about a half hour before I got up, took some IB Profin and headed to the living room. Quick roll on my foam roller and I grabbed the frozen corn out of the freezer to ice my ankle. I didn't get back to sleep until a little after 4 am.

Needless to say when my alarm went off at 5:45 am, I was not a happy camper. I called my doctor's office this morning and they are faxing me a referal so that I can go back to my physical therapist. I cannot wait for my appointment on Wednesday. Even if it doesn't do much it makes me feel better to know that I'm doing what I can to get it before it gets really bad.

I haven't crashed yet or even had any caffiene. But as I eat my lunch I'm sure the drowsiness will set in and I'll be longing for my bed. I'm taking tonight off from working out and making sure to R.I.C.E.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

I put off my long run until today thinking if I rested all day yesterday I'd feel better. Well I felt a bit better when I woke up today so I headed out to run the Boulder Reservoir. The run started off fine, though I was sniffling and having trouble getting in my groove. I of course tried to attribute this to just needing to get through the warm up. Well then the knee pain started. I was almost a lap around and I started to cry. Every thing in my body ached and I knew there was no way that I could run 12 more miles. I think I cried more because I HATE giving up. It makes me feel weak and like a terrible runner.

Being stubborn, instead of driving home I drove straight to the gym. I thought about trying the treadmill but knew if I was feeling that dizzy outside when it was nice and cool with a little breeze there was no way that I would feel any better on the dreadmill. I hopped on the elliptical instead.

I set the machine to level 6 and started running away on it. Sixty-five minutes came and went. I was exhausted and feeling like crap, but I needed the time on my feet. I did another 45 and called it good. According the the elliptical I added another 11.75 miles to the 5.25 I did at the res for a total of 17 miles.

I still feel like crap. My body is aching, my head pounding but I just knew if I didn't get this done that next weekend I'd regret it. Next week is the tell tell run. I'll be covering 21 miles...that's 4 laps around the res. If I can get through that run I can get through the marathon. It will help me determine what pace group I want to be in for the race and help me predict my finishing time. It is my final dress rehearsal. Eek.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I don't know if it was the downhill or that I ran the half faster than I normally do for that distance and on cement, but my legs were actually sore. It was so strange. I didn't exercise on Sunday since we were in the car and then running errands all afternoon, but I did hop on a stationary bike on Monday which really made my legs feel much better. My ankle hurts but what else is new?

So you know how I said that you should never wear anything new on race day? I didn't follow my own advice. I sported Josh arm sleeves and I'm paying for it. It chaffed the crap out of me. I have two nice scabs near my armpits. They hurt so bad pretty much every time I move my arms by my body. Point made body, I will never wear anything new on race day again.

Also nice are my now, two purple toenails. My second toe curls over and I lost that toenail last season. I wasn't surprised to see it trying to come off again. I think my third toe's nail is coming off because at the start of the race I couldn't feel my feet so I'm sure I was digging it into my shoe and didn't even realize it. Oh well, badges of honor right? At Josh's request I did buy some new polish to paint them...they do look pretty bad.

When I went to the gym I did sport my new Canyonlands Half Marathon shirt. Maybe the color isn't that bad when not wearing the hat at the same time...it's still pretty ugly though.

Don't you think? Yikes on a side note my thigh looks huge in the picture...eek.

On my way out of the gym I had a complete stranger tell me how awesome it was that I just ran a half marathon. When I told him I had a full to go next month he said he thought that was amazing. It was kind of nice to hear.

It's snowing like mad so I'm not going to the gym. It took me nearly two hours to get home from work and it's just not worth going out in the weather for. Hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to get in a great workout.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Believe it or not I got to sleep in for this race! I didn't have to get up to until a little after 5 am...it was awesome! When I woke up I snuck out of bed and warmed up my oatmeal. Josh was still sleeping so I pretty much hung out in the bathroom while I ate and read magazines and surfed the web. By around 6 it was time to start thinking about taping and getting dressed since the team was meeting in the lobby of the hotel at 7 am to get on the buses to the canyon.

Once taped up I started getting on all of my layers. I put on my race gear including Josh's arm sleeves then the sweat pants, windbreaker and hoodie. I knew it was going to be cold up there while we waited. With my gear check bag packed I headed out the door to meet the team.

We all walked to the park where the race was going to end and jumped on school buses up to the canyon. We got to the bus stop in the canyon at 8 am..to wait to very cold hours for the race to start. At least I was able to kill about 45 minutes waiting in line for the porta-potty. Apparently a lot of people have never used one and didn't realize when any number of porta-potties open, you jump in regardless of if it is the one right in front of you. Why this concept was so hard for people to wrap their head around I have no idea. I mean come on...not that hard. Jenn and I started cheering people on to get them into them.

After about a 1/2 mile walk up to the starting line I stood with Aaron, Amanda and Tina anxiously awaiting the start. The race actually started a bit late but that's ok. Having all of those people around me really kept me warm. The race started and we were off. For about the first 2-3 miles it was pretty crowded. Slowly people started dropping bag so it was easier to get through the crowd.

My legs felt like they were made of cement. They felt heavy and sluggish but I was able to maintain a pretty good pace. By mile 6 or so I saw some awesome TNT volunteers cheering me on which really helped me get my feet moving. I ran into Deanna shortly thereafter and she was nice enough to run with myself and Amanda for a few minutes. After mile 7 I was off.

I knew there was a hill coming up around mile 9 but I was determined not to let it slow me down. My legs started to feel much lighter and before I knew it the hill had come and gone. I could almost see the end of the canyon where we made the turn into town. The stretch from the hill to the turn seemed to fly right by. The weather and scenery were beautiful and I was feeling good...no gel digestive failure finallly!

I made the turn into town and knew I needed to pick up the pace. I was on track for a new personal record which was super exciting and unexpected. About a mile from the turn in I saw Josh and a group of TNT supporters. It was awesome seeing them.

I handed Josh my fuel belt because it was dragging me down. I didn't realize he was going to run along with me. Jeans and all Josh ran the last mile or so with me to be my personal photographer.

One final turn and the finish line was in sight. Right as I saw the finish Hero by the Foo Fighters came on...perfect! My iPod apparently read my mind. I wanted to finish strong and for the first time in a distance race I was able to not only pick up the pace but move into an all out sprint. For the last 200 feet or so I race as fast as my legs would carry me.

I even passed several people along the way, including this guy right at the finish line.

Time: 2:05:52 Avg. Pace: 9:34 min/miles

My Garmin actually said I went 13.18 miles so my average pace was actually a tiny bit faster, you know a few seconds. There it was, a new personal record. I was so happy! What amazed me is that I wasn't even trying to PR. I didn't even think about it until I was about at mile 7ish when I looked down and realized that I was on track to beat my Denver half time. Not only did I beat it, I beat it by about 8 minutes! I'm hoping that I'll come in under two hours at my next half marathon.

Afterwards I took my finishers photo and went to check in at the team tent. I was super disappointed to learn that they stopped giving out medals. Instead I get that dayglow shirt and hat I was telling you about. I'll have to take a picture. Luckily TNT brought us medals. I think that I'm going to get mine engraved with Canyonlands 2010 and a kokopelli runner.

The rest of the team started trickling in. It was such a beautiful day we hung out and soaked up the sun before walking back to the hotel.

You better believe I rocked my compression socks. Those downhill portions were brutal on the legs.

I got back to the hotel, iced, rested and relaxed before our victory dinner.

Thursday was busy busy. As soon as I got home from work, I packed the last of the things I had forgotten to pack Wednesday night, dropped off Lucky and waited for Josh to get home. As soon as he got home it was time to load the car and get on the road.

We had a slight change of plans with our overnight accomodations when TJ told Josh that his roommate's parents had come into town. Not to worry, I found the cheapest hotel possible for us to stay in so that we weren't sleeping on a floor. That would just not have been pleasant.

We arrived at our hotel or maybe it was more of a motel since you can park and walk into your room around 10ish? Anyway, we stayed at the Rodeway Inn in Glenwood Springs which yes, did advertise that they have HBO on their sign (eating my words). It wasn't actually all that bad. I mean it could have used some updating and some new carpet, but the beds were fairly comfortable and we had cable so you know, it worked. When we got up in the morning we were so glad that we decided to head up the night before. While Denver was being hit by the snow storm, we were enjoying our free breakfast the next morning...good old waffles or pastries.

After breakfast we hit the road. Just a few hours later we arrived in Moab and to rain and hail. Yes the weather was lovely. We discovered two things, Zax Pizza aka Woody's only serves breakfast until 11:30 and there is absolutely no checking in early at the Ramada Inn. Ugh. I was so irritated. To kill some time we hit a bike store and the hardware store for Josh to buy a new lock (we found out later he had brought his). By the time this was done we were able to get some lunch...yeay for salad bars and pizza.

After lunch I drove Josh up to a trail for him to do some biking. We had to wait out the hail for a few then he was on his way. I hit the expo while he was riding...not impressed. Now I know Canyonlands is a small race but I was really disappointed with the expo. There were like two sponsors there and basically just bins of clothes that some stores were trying to get rid of. I did score some new TYR goggles for $6 which was exciting. Dayglow shirt and hat in hand, as well as my reusable gear check bag, I drove the race course.

Amazing isn't it?

Finally we were able to check in and head out to the Inspiration Dinner. I was charged with leading all of the participants to the dinner. And lead I did...literally. It was like playing follow the leader in kindergarten. You would think that someone would walk with me, but nope, they all stayed behind me. It was weird. We got there and they were all cheered in! Nice plate of pasta later we got to hear some facts about how much work we've done this season, how many calories we've burned (over a million), and how much money we've raised (just this group $73,000). Once Ashley was done speaking one of our honored heroes spoke to us about her battle and thanked us for our hard work. As everything concluded we took team photos and we went home.

Of course I laid everything out and was able to get a great night of sleep thanks to Advil PM. Lifesaver!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

On Monday night we had our official send-off meeting. This is when we pick up our bright purple TNT singlets and get our tickets for all the weekend events. Some people decorate their singlets at this time, but I can never find enough letters to spell my name so I figure I'll just use my foam letters from last year to spruce it up. Maybe at some puff paint at a later date...we shall see. I'm not very good with stuff like that. Anyway here's what's on tap for the weekend:

Wednesday-PACK. I hate packing and I always leave it until the last moment. Here's my list of things not to forget:

1. Running shoes...I know this barefoot running thing is the latest phenomena but I'm not into it. Definitely don't want to forget these babies.

2. Running skirt, TNT singlet, sports bra and socks. Can't run without any of those things. I suppose I could but it probably wouldn't be very attractive.

3. Body glide, gels, fuel belt and kinesio tape. Body Glide is an amazing deodorent looking stick that works wonders. I put it on the tips of my toes, the inside of my arms and thighs...anywhere that might be prone to chaffing. As I learned last weekend I also need to put it on the side of my hips because apparently my running skirt has either stretched or I've gotten smaller and it rubs. Booo. The rest is typical long run gear.

4. Garmin and iPod. Both will be charging up all night so they have full power. I don't want to have a dead iPod like I did at the Denver Half. I downloaded some new music last weekend to keep me pumped up.

5. Two packets of regular instant oatmeal, cinnamon and brown sugar. A bowl and a spoon would probably be helpful too. Never eat anything new on race day, so I'm bringing it with me. Lucky for me our room has a microwave.

6. Tickets for the TNT events. Can't get in without them.

Thursday: Drop Lucky off at Happy Tails and head up to Vail. We're planning (well if Josh calls and gets the ok) to drive up to Vail on Thursday night and staying with friends. With the whole I-70 rock slide debacle we don't want to have a super long ride on Friday. Plus it's supposed to snow on Friday and I'd like to be as close to Moab as possible before that moves in.

Friday: Arrive in Moab! Yeay! We'll check into the hotel and Josh was leave to go for a ride. He's really looking forward to it but I can tell he's kind of bummed that Colin is running on Saturday and won't be riding with him. I have a lot to do on Friday. Pick up all of my stuff at the expo and pick up some free swag. Love the expos before a race! After the expo it will be time to start getting ready for the Inspiration Dinner.

The Inspiration Dinner is awesome. In Seattle, the Penguin, who wrote for Runner's World forever, spoke and was hilarious. We also had cancer survivors speak, the head of the Competitor Group and the head of LLS. Pretty freaking fantastic, inspirational and emotional. The Rocky Mountain Chapter is the only TNT chapter at this race so it will be substantially smaller. After the dinner I'll probably head back to the room to relax and lay out all of my clothes and gear. I'm neurotic and must have everything layed out on the floor and ready to go before race morning.

Saturday:Race Day! The race doesn't start until 10am but they have to bus all 4,000 participants up the canyon. So we are meeting at 7 am to take off. That's going to mean at least 2 hours standing in a cold canyon. At least that gives me time to hit the porta-potty at least half a dozen times which seems to be the norm for me on race day. Hopefully I'll have a fantastic race and breeze through the finish line around 12:30. Since it's a mass start, I figure it will be a long slow walk across the line and a lot of weaving in the first few miles.

After the race I'll definitely be hitting the TNT tent to get my PB&J and the after race expo to grab some more swag. That evening we have our Victory Party. It's at the Chuckwagon Bar and is a country themed party. It should be a fantastically cheesy time. Josh isn't going because he's going to hang with Colin and Rachel. I'll be meeting them for drinks after enjoying some BBQ and maybe a little line dancing.

Sunday: We head home. Hopefully we'll get to enjoy some breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe before we leave town. I will surely be packed especially since it was just featured on MSN's Best Breakfast Restaurants in the USA. I'm willing to wait for some deliciousness though.

Busy busy busy. Unfortunately we probably won't make it back up to the Delicate Arch where Josh proposed on this trip, but I'm sure we'll head back to Moab in the near future.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep before the weekend hits. I'm wiped.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Today was Mission Day which is a day of remembrance and celebration for all Team In Training participants. We all met in Denver to run the High Line Canal Trail. Once everyone arrived we were all handed balloons and moved into a circle. Once in the circle the 2015 Initiative was read. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has set a goal of allowing patients to manage their illness and live long happy lives as well as curing forms of blood cancers so that no one else has to lose a loved one. They want to do all of this by the year 2015. Amazing isn't it? That's just a mere five years away. They've done so much to advance to treatment and research that I have no doubt that they'll be able to accomplish it as long as we all keep supporting the cause. After the reading was done we went around the circle to tell everyone our name and why we do TNT.

Deanna went first which made all of us tear up when she spoke about her brother, then Tawsha told everyone about her Nana, after Jianna I told everyone who I run for, my Grandpa Tom and my Uncle Ted. There were a lot of tears this morning. One woman who couldn't have been much older than me, was already a widow. She lost her husband to lymphoma. Another woman about my age, just found out on February 1st that her husband was cancer free. I cannot imagine learning that Josh had cancer or losing him. It would be awful. Another woman spoke about losing her 10 month old daughter to leukemia and a man his wife. Their strength amazes me. At the end we celebrated Mighty Mason who I told you about in a previous post, who had his last treatment this past week and is officially cancer free. Once Ashley read aloud all of the names of the friends and family members that we participate for, we released our balloons into the air. It was an amazing and emotional morning.

Mighty Mason lead us to the trail and we started running. I was running longer than any of the other runners thanks to my altered schedule so I knew I'd be running by myself most of the time. Shortly after mile six I got to the final cheer station where I was warmly cheered on. They told me I was the first person they'd seen. Here I was thinking I was in the back! I ran out until I hit the 8 mile mark and turned back. I headed back to the trail head. I was just finishing my final gel when I saw Deanna and a few other volunteers under an arch of balloons cheering me on. It was great but I wasn't finished. My goal was to run 20 today, but at mile 19 I was just burned out. I was extremely thirsty ( my fuel belt was all out of water), hot and I felt bad because everyone was waiting on me. So 19 miles it was. I felt pretty good the entire run. I keep a pace between 9:15-10 min/miles. I felt strong and I'm feeling great about my chances of finished the marathon well under 5 hours...at least for now. It was a beautiful trail!

Before getting into my car to head home I filled two trash bags with ice for my knees. Fifty minutes later I was home, well iced. Josh was nice enough to run a cold bath for me. I made my green monster and headed up for an ice/epsom salt bath. I was shivering even with my sweatshirt on in the bath, but I think my legs appreciated it. As of right now I am still feeling good. My legs are sore but I can bend easily. I'll probably ice at least one more time today before I roll out on my foam roller to release some of the muscle tension.

Time: 3:05:25 Distance: 19 miles Avg. Pace: 9:45 min/mile

Now to be fair, I did stop my watch when I stopped and stretched. So that would probably add about 5-7 minutes to my overall time making my pace about 10:07 min/mile. If I an keep that pace for the marathon I'd come in under 4.5 hours! Which would just rock my world.

P.S. My shoes arrived yesterday and they were amazing on my feet today! No ankle pain!

Friday, March 12, 2010

A week from tomorrow at 10 am I'll be toeing the starting line in Moab. The Canyonlands Half Marathon will be my second half and I'm really looking forward to it. Josh and I are tenitively planning to drive up to the mountains on Thursday night and then drive the rest of the way to Moab on Friday morning. That way, even with the disasterous I-70, we can still get there early enough for Josh to get in a ride. We haven't been back to Moab since we got engaged there in November of 2007. Josh was very romantic and proposed under the Delicate Arch.

This is a hilly course and I'm not really going to have any sort of altitude advantage. I'm trying to remind myself that this is just a training run because it really is. Nashville is the big race! I'm still hoping that I can come in faster than I did in my first half and finish around 2 hours. Realistic for a course this hilly? Probably not but a girl can hope.

At least this is a nice small race, one of the smallest I've ever done. The entry is completely by lottery, so there are only 4000 entries allowed. Lucikly I was able to get in with TNT.

I sent my mentees some tips for race preparation. I thought I'd share them with everyone else. I'm not expert but these are a few things that I've learned:

1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. You cannot hydrate the night before or the morning of the race. You need to make sure that you are drinking lots of water and Gatorade in the coming week before the race. Typically for every two bottles of water I drink, I drink a bottle of Gatorade. If you drink only water and too much of it, you risk depleting your electrolytes which is bad. So please make sure you also drink some sort of electrolyte beverage in addition to water. Also this may be gross but, if your pee is clear you've had too much. You only want to drink enough to have light yellow pee. If you have dark pee, keep drinking.

2. Rest. Don't do any crazy strenuous leg exercises. You want your legs to feel fresh and ready to go. Also, get some sleep. If you are feeling really tired, take that nap or go to bed early. You won't be sleeping the night before (trust me) so you want to make sure that you are as rested as you can be.

3. Eat! I mean it. This is not the week to watch your calorie or carbohydrate intake. Carb-loading the night before the race is not going to do a thing for you. You actually need to build up your carbs over several days, even a week or more. So enjoy that bread, pasta, etc. You can start tomorrow night at Jianna's.

4. Pack everything you need on race day in a separate bag from the rest of your weekend gear. Once you check into the hotel and get all of your stuff from the expo, lay out your outfit, shoes, sock, even your gels for the race on the floor. Pin your bib onto your shirt so you don't have to do it in the morning. Put the toe tag on your shoe as well. You're probably going to be anxious enough as it is that morning without having to get to the starting line and realize you forgot something. When you're laying everything out, if you discover you've forgotten something at home, you'll have time that evening to get to a store.

5. Don't eat anything new. Bring whatever you normally eat before our long runs with you. You don't want to be scrambling that morning trying to find something or having to settle for something you're not used to. It could really upset your stomach.

6. Enjoy! Take in the moment and your accomplishment.

I'm excited to get away for the weekend! It's going to be a short trip but it should be a lot of fun.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

It's been a while since I've talked about fundraising. Mainly because it hasn't gone as well this season. No matter how many emails or letters I send, how many times I post it on Facebook...nothing. I can't even get anyone to respond to Evites. If you can't go, just tell me but at least respond.

As of today there is just over $2800 in my account. Now that is nothing to sneeze at but this close to my race I should already be at my goal. Josh and I made a hefty donation to help me out...$400. Thanks to Amgen's matching program, $800 will be arriving in my account shortly. That is about double the amount I should have matched when I was doing my own donation matching campaign. I know times are tough but it's so frustrating.

A few weeks back we had an awesome wine tasting event. The event raised a little more than $10,000 I believe. Thanks to Ryan and Claire, Rache, my dad and Liz, Josh's coworker, coworker Lisa and her husband Roland and my coworker Bob and a group of his friends, I was able to sell 15 tickets which helped me raise $450 to put towards my goal. With the profit from the silent auction portion, I have an additional $520 to deposit in my account. Thank goodness for this event otherwise I'd be in a total panic about raising enough to meet my minimum to attend Nashville.

I'm not trying to whine, because I know many of my friends and family supported me last year by donating, but come on, everyone has $10. Cancer doesn't wait. I'm not asking for anyone to donate to Josh and I's personal checking account.

If you're still intersted in donation you can always visit my website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/rm/dhmomu10/jvankirk. This is going to be my last season with TNT for a little while so I want to make it count! I'm doing the hard part, the training, all you have to do is donate to help those cancer patients, current and future.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Today I got way too excited about shoes. No they are not super cute heels or sandels for the summer, they're running shoes. In fact they are exactly like two other pairs that are in my closet at home but new. After a lot of searching I finally found a size 9 womens Asic 2140. Thank you Zappos! For some reason Asic decided it would be a good idea to discountinue the only running shoes that I can rely on. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find them. I got the very last size 9 pair on Zappos. So excited for their arrival on Friday. Just in time for the longest training run yet this season...eek.

I currently have a pair of their replacement, the 2150, but I swear they are not the same at all. All weekend I wore my latest retired 2140s around and my ankle started feeling a lot better. I'm going to blame the ankle pain on the 2150s but will probably keep them around to test them after my ankle has healed and I'm not running on ice anymore. Yep, I think I can say I'm a runner. These days my closet has more running shoes than heels. Most of my heels have actually collected a fair amount of dust. Can't wear them during training for fear of repeat tendonitis in the knees and the dreadful calf tightness. But then again, it seems I'm in a constant state of training right now.

Enough about the shoes. I went to the doctor on Friday. Not to worry, just routine check-up. I go to a family doctor in Fort Collins. Yes, I realize it makes absolutely no sense because I live in Longmont and work in Denver. Here's the thing, it's really hard to find a doctor I like. So since I really like Dr. Abrahamson I figure that I'll haul my ass up to Fort Collins once a year to see him. It helps that he also specializes in sports medicine. After running into my old boss Alan in the lobby, I went back.

I'm happy to report I've lost 4 of the 6 lbs I had gained travelling and I still have 20/20 vision with both eyes. Each eye by itself...eh. Dr. Abrahamson wasn't worried about my ankle at all. He said it should be better soon and just keep icing, taping and taking anti-inflammatories. So everything was fine but just to cover all of our bases he sent me to the lab for some blood tests. As it turns out, I have a boardline iron deficiency. The official prescription: eat red meat or chicken thighs three days a week. I had to chuckle a little bit.

I'm not sure why, but lately I have just not been into meat. At least a few days a week Josh and I have been having meatless dinners. I hadn't even really thought about how much I've cutdown on meat intake until I looked at my SparkPeople nutrition diary. I guess this week instead of making the delicious black bean burgers I had planned, I'll be swinging by the store to pick up some ground beef for real burgers...doctors orders after all.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Today was supposed to be an easy run. And the run itself was easy, except my stomach did not want to cooperate and I changed where I ran three times!

I started at the gym because my stomach was already unhappy from the margaritas I had last night at dinner with my lobster who is finally home! Well 2.5 miles in I knew there was no way I could run 10 more...it was way too hot. I took off for McIntosh Lake just a few miles away.

I was having an awesome run when about a mile after my gel, here came my stomach again! UGH! I thought oh no problem, I can see the bathroom. Ran to the door of the bathroom...locked. Seriously, come on. Ran to the next one, also locked. After 7 miles, I drove home just to use the bathroom. Sad right. I don't know why my body is rejecting gels lately.

I was pretty hungry when I got home, so Josh and I had some lunch. I was just going to let the food settle and then be on my way to finish the last 2.5 miles. Well I accidentally doozed off.

About an hour later I was up and out the door. The last 2.5 miles done! I'm glad this was a taper week because this stupid run sucked. I did have a great pace going though!

I would rather just have done all the miles at the same time, but it was just not in the cards for me today. Next week is Mission Day so I'm excited to run with the team again. All of the Front Range teams are meeting near my high school for a huge group run. It's going to be one of my longest runs of the season...about 20 miles or how ever far I can run in 3.5 hours. I'm hoping I hit 20 miles and GDF doesn't get in my way. After the run we'll be enjoying breakfast and celebrating our honored teammates, people in remission, battling cancer and those who lost their battle before we could find a cure. I missed it last year because I was injured, but I'm not missing it this time!

Injury Update: My ankle feels fine for the most part once I start running and I have it taped. Running outside today at McIntosh I felt so great. It was nice to have the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. Plus, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to maintain a pace under 9:30 min/mile. It didn't hurt that the only hills around the lake are tiny. Canyonlands is going to be a rude awakening. At least the Nashville course is fairly flat with just baby hills and just 500 feet above sea level.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

It's official, I am definitely running in Nashville. Last week I sent in my recommitment paperwork, today I bought my airline ticket. In 50 days I'l be at the starting line of my second marathon. I am super excited and nervous all at the same time. I did it once, so why not again right? I should be feeling confident, I was able to go 18 miles on Saturday without a problem...well except for the upset stomach, but I think that was from the pizza.

My ankle is aching but I think there is a good chance it will be all better before race day. My knees are hanging in there for now. Hopefully they'll continue to put up with my craziness. I've taken it easy since Saturday. I did a mere 40 minutes of exercise while in Oregon which is so unlike me. To my credit, I was working for 10+ hours a day and on my feet most of them. I've gained 6 pounds in the past two weeks...eek. That may seems like nothing, but I'm just not used to that. I feel sluggish and like I'm losing my fitness.

Last night I dragged my ass to the gym even though I was completely exhausted from being on the go since 3.30 am. Half hour warm up on the bike, squats, lunges, arms and abs then a 20 minute stint on the elliptical. I was thinking about running tonight but may just hold off until my quick 12 mile run on Saturday. I'm sick to death of the dreadmill but hey, that's so much better than no running at all right?

My biggest fear is that I've been taking it way too easy with training and one of these days I'm bound to have a really shitty run. I'm just hoping that it's not marathon day. Canyonlands is just three weeks away. I'm not really focusing at that race at all, just looking at it as a training run. After all, I will have run 20 miles the Saturday before...13.1 is a lot shorter distance! The marathon is what's on my mind every day. Will I make it to the finish line? Will I get injured again? Will I be able to run faster than the first one? Is a 4:30 marathon a real possibility?

Apparently I need someone to help me quiet the critical thoughts and doubts in my head.